Below is an excerpt from the Marcus Autism Center website. For more information, visit http://www.marcus.org.

“Marcus Autism Center is a not-for-profit organization and subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta that treats more than 5,500 children with autism and related disorders a year.

As one of the largest autism centers in the U.S. and one of only three National Institutes of Health (NIH) Autism Centers of Excellence, Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive evaluations and intensive behavior treatments. With the help of research grants, community support and government funding, Marcus Autism Center aims to maximize the potential of children with autism today and transform the nature of autism for future generations.

With a wide spectrum of services and evidence-based treatments, families can receive diagnosis, treatment and support in a single location. Treating patients across Georgia and the Southeast, Marcus Autism Center is the comprehensive resourcefor children with autism and related disorders.

Marcus Autism Center, in conjunction with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and through collaborations with premier academic institutions nationwide, is bringing groundbreaking research and clinical services to children and families affected by autism.

With the appointment of Ami Klin, Ph.D., Director of Marcus Autism Center, we are pursuing an overarching research strategy, with two main areas of focus—early detection and early intervention. This will be accomplished, in part, by Dr. Klin’s eye-tracking software, which has been shown to diagnose children as young as 6 months old. We hope that this will help future generations of children get the care they need.”

Stephanie is 8 years old. She was identified at 1 ½ years old with a moderate hearing loss. She was diagnosed at 5 years old with autism. Her parents, Dan and Shelly, work full time and they just welcomed a newborn to their family. Stephanie attends school at the public school down the street from her house.

7:15 AM

Dan is out of town on business, and Shelly is scrambling to get Stephanie out the door on time. Her bus arrives at 7:30 and Stephanie is just now getting dressed. Shelly tries to get Stephanie to move more quickly, but Shelly is also holding a crying newborn. Juggling two children has proved more difficult than Shelly imagined. In the hustle and bustle of the morning, she forgets to put new batteries in Stephanie’s hearing aids.

Lately, with things being more hectic around their home, Stephanie’s progress has waned and Dan and Shelly are concerned. Stephanie is not reading on grade level and the other children in her class are making age-appropriate academic gains. They are on the waiting list at the Marcus Autism Center’s Language and Learning Clinic, where Stephanie will receive services to help her improve her communication and social skills.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual language. With signing, the brain processes linguistic information through the eyes. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information.

Sign language is not a universal language — each country has its own sign language, and regions have dialects, much like the many languages spoken all over the world. Like any spoken language, ASL is a language with its own unique rules of grammar and syntax. Like all languages, ASL is a living language that grows and changes over time.

ASL is used predominantly in the United States and in many parts of Canada. ASL is accepted by many high schools, colleges, and universities in fulfillment of modern and “foreign” language academic degree requirements across the United States.

Check out AMP (Accessible Materials Project), which is based in Georgia. AMP provides video for those who use ASL or who are learning ASL. One of their many videos can be found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQY1aKWrFE. This video presents sight words in written English and in ASL. Words are fingerspelled and signed.

Deaf teachers use visual strategies for incorporating fingerspelling into classroom instruction. Studies on these visual strategies show that they are a natural part of classroom interaction and are used to promote greater understanding and retention of academic material.

Three such instructional strategies for using fingerspelling are as follows:

(1) Chaining, (2) Sandwiching, and (3) Lexicalized Fingerspelling.

Chaining

Chaining is used for introducing new concepts or new vocabulary terms. Chaining creates associations by connecting signs, fingerspelling, and the printed/written word in a sequence, with one format reinforcing the previous one. Through chaining, the teacher provides multiple ways for the students to learn the word and concept. In addition, teachers may use objects, pictures, or multimedia to reinforce the concepts. For example, when teaching the word, tornado, a teacher might choose one of the following sequences:

1) Point to the word tornado written on the board;

2) fingerspell T-O-R-N-A-D-O; and

3) sign TORNADO.

Or:

1) Fingerspell T-O-R-N-A-D-O;

2) sign TORNADO; and

3) write tornado on the board.

Sandwiching

The sandwiching technique alternates between fingerspelling and signing. This method also reinforces the equivalency of ASL and English.

1) Fingerspell T-O-R-N-A-D-O;

2) sign TORNADO; and

3) fingerspell T-O-R-N-A-D-O again.

Or:

1) Sign TORNADO;

2) fingerspell T-O-R-N-A-D-O; and

3) sign TORNADO again.

Lexicalized Fingerspelling

New signs are created through a process where fingerspelled words are altered or lexicalized to become more sign-like. Commonly referred to as loansigns, these signs sometimes omit letters (#JOB) while others blend the handshapes seamlessly (#BUS). Through this process, a loan sign is formed. Lexicalized fingerspelled signs include nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, interjections and wh-words. Lexicalized fingerspelling transforms the fingerspelled word into a sign-like visual image. Deaf teachers often use this technique; first, they produce a neutral version of a fingerspelled word, and then follow that with a lexicalized version. This process supports visual memory and facilitates retention.